Contemporary terrorism as a global threat

Mirosław Smolarek

Terrorism has been present in human history since ancient times, but it was not considered a serious threat for global security. The attacks on the World Trade Center have demonstrated that it is a threat of a global nature. It is an effective weapon used by the "weaker" against the stronger opponents. The subject of terrorism is very complex, difficult and elusive. There is a divergence among the scholars in understanding terrorism studies due to the lack of uniform criteria for the determination of a clear definition. Therefore, this article is an attempt to characterize the diversity of the terrorist activities that deviate from the “conventional” terrorism such as agro-terrorism, cyber-terrorism, super-terrorism, etc.). In addition, the paper stresses the need of combating terrorism as a partial solution to improve the safety of the international community.